Ex-CEO settles lawsuit over Va. bank’s collapse

NORFOLK (AP) — Former Bank of the Commonwealth president and CEO Edward J. Woodard Jr. and federal regulators have settled a lawsuit stemming from the bank’s collapse.

As part of the settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the 70-year-old Woodard agreed to not serve on the board of any company that trades securities. He won’t have to pay a civil penalty.

Woodard, his son, another bank executive and a developer were convicted in May 2013 on federal charges of conspiring to defraud the bank before it collapsed in 2011. Woodard is serving a 23-year sentence. He didn’t admit any wrongdoing in the civil settlement.

Woodard’s lawyer, Stanley Sacks, told The Virginian-Pilot that his client believes he did not violate any securities laws but he did not want to fight the lawsuit.